My Go at the Tom Sauer Thing
So, I kept hearing folks mention this ‘Tom Sauer’ approach. Wasn’t exactly sure what it was all about, sounded like one of those productivity hacks people talk about online. Someone, maybe it was Dave down the street, mentioned it helped him get through his messy garage project. Sounded simple enough, so I figured, why not? Got nothing to lose, right? Decided to give it a real try last week.
First thing I did was just clear my desk. Like, properly clear it. Not just shoving stuff into drawers. Took everything off, wiped it down. Felt a bit silly, honestly, spending time on that when I had actual work piled up. But hey, the ‘Tom Sauer’ thing, as I understood it, started with getting your space right. So, desk cleared.
Then, I picked one task. Just one. Had this report nagging at me for days. Usually, I’d chip away at it between emails and calls. This time, I blocked out a solid chunk of time. Turned off the phone notifications – that was hard, not gonna lie. Felt like I might miss something vital. The ‘Tom Sauer’ idea seemed big on uninterrupted focus, so I committed.
Setting the Timer
Okay, the core part, as I gathered, was working in bursts. I set a timer for, let’s say, 45 minutes. Just head down, only the report. No checking random websites, no getting up for a snack. Just work. The first 15 minutes? Easy. Then the itch started. Wanted to check the news, remembered I needed to order something. Forced myself to stick with it. It wasn’t magic, just plain old forcing myself to sit and type.
The ‘Different’ Kind of Break
When the timer went off, the instructions I pieced together said to take a specific kind of break. Not just scrolling social media. It was supposed to be something completely unrelated, maybe physical? I went outside. Walked around the garden for like 10 minutes. Didn’t think about the report. Just looked at the plants, felt the sun. Came back inside feeling… well, actually a bit refreshed. Better than just switching to another screen.
- Did another 45-minute block.
- Took another ‘walk-around’ break.
- Did one more block after that.
And you know what? The report was basically done. Way faster than my usual messy way of doing things. It wasn’t revolutionary tech or anything. Felt more like common sense I’d just been ignoring.
So, What’s the Verdict?
Look, I’m not saying this ‘Tom Sauer’ thing is the secret to everything. It felt pretty basic. Work hard, take a real break, repeat. Maybe that’s all it is. But sticking to it, actually doing the focused part and the real break part, that made a difference for me that day. It wasn’t easy keeping the focus, my mind still wandered. And turning off notifications felt weirdly risky.
Will I do it every day? Probably not perfectly. Life gets in the way. But it showed me that carving out that focused time, even if it feels forced, gets stuff done. And stepping away completely, physically, for breaks? Yeah, there’s something to that. Better than just swapping one screen for another. It’s just a simple structure, really. Tried it, logged it, kinda worked. Might try it again next time I feel stuck.
